Bulgarian president declines government proposal to lead delegation to NATO summit

SOFIA. Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has turned down a government proposal to lead the country’s delegation to NATO’s July summit in Washington D.C. His press office said Thursday that among the reasons behind the refusal is that he was not consulted while it worked out the official position of the country and its commitments regarding the war in Ukraine. The decision comes on the heels of heated debates between pro-Russian and pro-Western parties in Bulgaria about whether Radev, as the commander-in-chief of the military, should represent the country at the NATO summit. Radev has often been criticized by political opponents for his Kremlin-friendly position in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.